Forced Smiles
by Scootaleuz
Summary: There are no more smiles. No more parties. No more fun times. All of that, taken away. One Element of Harmony is missing, lost in her own world. Is it possible to pull her out, or will Equestria have to find a replacement? Can Ponyville survive without Pinkie Pie?
1. Late to the Party

**NOTE: Sorry this chapter is pretty short. It's more of an introduction than a full chapter.**

After Lyra's birthday, late into the night, Pinkie Pie ran back to Sugarcube Corner. She had another party to plan, but this one was very special. It was Cheese Sandwich's birthday tomorrow, and Pinkie had already invited him to Ponyville for a party that afternoon. Pinkie could barely contain her excitement as she ran up to her room, on the top floor of Sugarcube Corner. She grabbed all of the decorations, cake, and party favors she could find, and trotted downstairs, dropping many items on the way down. Mrs. Cupcake was just finishing cleaning up the restaurant, so Pinkie had the whole night to prepare.

Morning broke, and the birds were chirping. Pinkie was sound asleep in the middle of the party room, all of the decorations set. She had been working late, and fell asleep after finishing the job. She woke with a jump after the first guest arrived, startled. It was Snips. Alright, she thought to herself. Cheese was going to show at 11, and that's when the party would start. Pinkie already had everything planned out, down to the minute. "This is going to be great!", she told herself.

But as the day went on, more and more ponies showed up, but none of them were Cheese. 11 passed, without any sign of him. Did he not get the letter?, Pinkie wondered. No, that couldn't have been it. They'd been trading letters for a while, and Pinkie always knew where Cheese was. He was a traveling pony, after all. 12 passed, and still no sign of the special birthday guest. She told everypony attending to hold out for Cheese, then retreated to her room upstairs. "Gummy, I just don't know.", Pinkie said. She was talking to Gummy again, although she knew that Gummy couldn't say anything back. "Cheese was supposed to be here over a hour ago. Does he even want to come? Of course he does…. But then, why isn't he here?". Pinkie was rambling at this point, while Gummy was chewing on a leftover, deflated balloon, not very interested.

Cheese Sandwich finally came, around 3. Knowing he was late, he asked where Pinkie was. Everypony told him she had left already. "Huh?", he had said in reply. This just didn't sound like Pinkie to him. Where could she have possibly gone, and why, and when? Cheese Sandwich wanted answers, but there was nothing anypony at the party could give him. So, knowing his options were limited, he decided to chase after Pinkie. But with no information on where she was, where would he go? Cheese decided on his most likely option: Pinkie had been looking for him at his previous stops. He had an apology in mind, and set off to give it to Pinkie.


	2. More on the Case

**NOTE: I decided to keep chapters short, so I can put them out more often.**

The last place Cheese had been was Las Pegasus, so he checked there first. Most of the ponies recognized him, as he was there last week. But this time, Cheese wasn't traveling for a party. Ponies asked him why he looked as sad as he did, but Cheese didn't answer. He wasn't even sure he had one himself. Unfortunately, there wasn't a Pie to be found in Las Pegasus. Cheese asked everyone if they'd seen a pink pony with bouncy pink hair, but the answer was no. His first stop was a bust.

Twilight walked into the party room, ready for some fun. She'd been busy in Fillydelphia, helping Rarity with one of her fashion shows, but she decided to come anyway. To her surprise, there were few ponies in the room, no Pinkie, and certainly no partying. Rainbow Dash was pacing the room, and Applejack was in the corner, her hat covering her face. "Is there something wrong?", she asked. "Pinkie left.", replied Rainbow Dash. "I'm not sure where she went. She's probably looking for Cheese Sandwich. She'll come back, I think. She always does.". "Looking for Cheese?", said Twilight. "Didn't he come?" "Well, kinda. He came REALLY late, and Pinkie had already left by then. What, are you gonna leave too?", said Rainbow, in a clearly sarcastic tone. Twilight thought about it for a second, then gave her answer. "Why, yes, Rainbow. I am going to go looking for Pinkie Pie. And if you don't want to join me, fine. I'll leave on my own." "Hey, wait-", shouted Rainbow, out the window. Twilight left so fast, she couldn't even tell which direction she went.

After arriving in Fillydelphia, his second stop. Cheese was already beginning to feel dispirited. She'll be here, he kept telling himself. She's gotta be somewhere, right? After a while, he saw a pony carrying two bags, and a line of dresses. That's a lot to carry, he thought. So, being Cheese Sandwich, he offered to help. "Hold on.", Cheese thought aloud, not knowing he was talking. "Aren't you….. one of Pinkie Pie's friends?". He couldn't remember her name, but knew she was a fashion designer. "Pinkie?", she said. "Yes, I am one of her friends. You're Cheese Sandwich, I think. Nice meeting you again, but I must be on my way. I can carry the bags, but thanks for offering to help." She began to walk off, but Cheese wouldn't let her. "Wait!", he yelled. "Do you know where she is? I looked all over Las Pegasus, but didn't find her there. I thought I might find her here in Fillydelphia, since-". He was cut off by who he now remembered as Rarity, the Element Of Generosity. "Why, dear, have you been looking in Las Pegasus? She lives in Ponyville.

Cheese explained the situation to Rarity. "Well, we can't have that, can we? Are you sure it's Pinkie you're talking about?", she questioned. Rarity looked skeptical. It just didn't sound like something Pinkie would do to her. "I'm sure it's Pinkie I'm talking about. I'm not sure about anything else, though. Nopony I've seen knows where she is." "Alright, well, I have to join you then. A missing Pinkie isn't a happy Pinkie.", said Rarity. Cheese Sandwich agreed. If Rarity joined him, they'd have a higher chance of finding Pinkie. Rarity knew Pinkie Pie better than he did, after all.


	3. Exactly So

The Cakes came back to Sugarcube Corner after a long day at a convention, selling cakes and other baked goods. They had made quite a profit, as all of the cakes were sold off. Mrs. Cake had been especially excited to see Pinkie and how Cheese Sandwich's party was going. When they turned the corner, though, you couldn't hear a peep. "There's normally so much noise surrounding one of Pinkie's parties. Do you think she's alright?"., asked Mrs. Cake.

"Why wouldn't she be?", said Mr. Cake. "The party has probably ended, that's all.". Mrs. Cake contemplated this. It was pretty late, as the moon was already being risen.

"Alright, I guess.", said Mrs. Cake, still not assured. Her beliefs were correct, as no lights were on in Sugarcube Corner. Once the Cakes checked inside, they were, undoubtedly, surprised. Party decorations were strewn everywhere, along with careless other knickknacks. Food littered the floor, some half-eaten, some not. Only one pony was still in the restaurant; Applejack, her hat covering most of her face.

"Where's Pinkie? What happened to the party?", asked Mr. Cake, clear worry in both his expression and his voice.

"She's not here.", replied Applejack. Her voice was stone, without feeling. "She left, presumably to look for Cheese Sandwich. He showed up late, and went looking for Pinkie. Now Twilight's ran off too, and it's a whole big mess. I just don't get it.".

"Um…. okay. Know where we can find Pinkie?", asked Mrs. Cake. She didn't get it either.

"Now you're leaving too? I reckon all of Ponyville will leave before we even heard word of Pinkie. She'll come back. She did before. And she will now."

The Cakes decided to stay in Ponyville, along with Applejack, who had to go back to Sweet Apple Acres. It was VERY late by now, and the Cakes went to bed, uneasily.

When they woke, Ponyville was not the same. A search team had already left to find Pinkie & Cheese, and the few residents that stayed never had a smile. Everypony was either moping or arguing with each other. Even Fluttershy was agitated and snapped at passing ponies. Ponyville had failed to realized what importance Pinkie Pie had to their community, and the happiness her morning musical numbers inspired. Now, there was nopony to throw parties; birthdays were missed. The Cakes did all they could to cheer ponies up, even to the point of giving away their inventory. Applejack and her family helped as well, but even with that, it wasn't enough. Ponyville needed their Pinkie back, and fast.

Rarity agreed to Cheese's approach to backtrack his last destinations. Up third was Manehattan, where another one of Rarity's shows took place. No Pinkie, but somepony else.

"Rainbow Dash?", puzzled Rarity.

"Rainbow Dash…..?". Cheese stopped for a minute. "Rainbow Dash! I remember! Pinkie and I threw a party for you! Pinkie….. and I… oh, yeah. Sorry."

"Not a problem, Cheese. I'm guessing you're searching for Pinkie too, right? I mean, over half of Ponyville has already left for her. Twilight's gone, I'm gone, and apparently Rarity never returned. I don't know where the Cakes are, or anypony else, for that matter.", Rainbow rambled. "Wanna team? I'm sure we can find Pinkie easier that way."

Rarity disagreed. "Actually, Dash, I have a better idea.".

Twilight ran through the streets of Canterlot, her destination, the Royal Castle. Spike and Twilight had already sent a letter to Celestia, and gotten a reply telling them to head to Canterlot immediately. Spike could barely keep up. Once they got to the castle, Celestia & Luna were waiting. "We received a message from who I assume to be Pinkie Pie.", said Celestia. "It mentions a real home, and that she never liked Ponyville anyway. I've already sent a search team across Equestria, and appointed some top detectives to inspect Ponyville. If you need the note, I have it right here.".

Twilight had already left, with Spike on her back. She knew exactly where she was going.


	4. Needle in a Haystack

Cheese refused to give up hope. It had been days since he first left Ponyville, and remained traveling. The group started to lose spirit, though, as the days went on. Food & shelter were hard to find, and most of them had run out of money. But Cheese had his apology penned, and was ready to give it to Pinkie. Only one problem; no Pinkie. Count in the fact that they have searched most of Equestria by now, and you can guarantee they were tired and ready to quit. Most of them, anyway. Rarity proposed earlier that they split up to cover more ground, and Cheese agreed. Rainbow was more or less pulled in to the idea after Cheese & Rarity had already gone their separate ways. Despite this plan, Pinkie was nowhere to be found.

Until one meeting in Appleloosa, that is.

After what felt like years apart, the three crossed paths in Appleloosa, where they decided to meet after they started taking separate trails. Nopony had seen Pinkie, though. Lack of company for 2 days added to the stressful and weary atmosphere. They were hungry, too. It had not been a great week.

"We've been absolutely EVERYWHERE, Cheese.", complained Rainbow. "We should just get back now. She could have returned by now."

"Rainbow's right. We need to head back. We're out of food, and money.", agreed Rarity.

"No.", Cheese replied, with a grim tone. "We have to keep searching, keep looking. Pinkie's here somewhere. I just know it". Cheese trotted off, to ask more ponies about Pinkie.

"That pony's obsessed.", Rainbow commented. "We should turn back before we end up leaving Equestria entirely."

"RARITY! RAINBOW! Come quickly!". Cheese Sandwich was yelling from across the block. "I found somepony who's seen Pinkie!"

"His name is Party Favor, and he said he saw Pinkie passing through here. We're on the right trail! I told you, but YOU didn't listen! We need to keep moving!"

"Do you where she went from here?', asked Rarity, in a calm manner. "Do you know how long she's been here, or why?

"Uh…., no." Cheese didn't have those answers. He was driven to find Pinkie, and wouldn't stop until he did.

"Well, I'm heading back.", said Rainbow. "Catch you guys later!"

"RAINBOW!", yelled Rarity, as Rainbow Dash flew off at her normal fast pace. "Wait for me!"

It was just Cheese Sandwich now. He tried to get them to stay, but failed. Again, he packed his few belongings and trekked off east; he didn't know where. But, the location didn't matter. Or Rarity. Or Rainbow Dash. All that mattered now, was Pinkie.

The Cakes no longer had time to bake cakes. Their time was spent trying to calm everypony down, and stopping fights from breaking loose and covering Ponyville in hatred. They had results varying from mild success, to being shoved in a ditch, to being threatened. All day, every day. Sleep was practically impossible, due to the noise outside. Applejack helped, too, and she was relatively better at Pinkie's job then the Cakes. Weird, since the Cakes lived with Pinkie and all. Yet, this still wasn't enough. About a third of Ponyville had already left into search teams, divided into unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. Their reports were similar to Cheese's, and the Cakes: unsuccessful.

Most ponies gave in. Pinkie Pie was the glue that held them together, and they had not been able to realize this until now. Tensions were high, and spirits low. Slowly, over time, even the Cakes gave up. Applejack alone crumpled under the hate, and soon, started hating too. Ponyville was a mess, that needed cleaning.

And who better to clean than Twilight? Spike still on her back, she had finally reached what she'd been looking for. It took longer than she expected, as it was on the other side of Equestria entirely, but the important thing was that she made the journey. As uneventful as the place looked, she knew this was where Pinkie would go.


	5. Seemingly Endless

There was no turning back for Cheese Sandwich. A week went by, without stopping. Day and night, he searched. Once he thought he had searched all of Equestria, he backtracked all of it. And after that, he backtracked a third time. He knew that Pinkie Pie was out there somewhere, waiting for him. He checked back at Ponyville multiple times, but he didn't care for anypony there, as long as Pinkie wasn't one of them. While he was there, ponies tried to reason with him. They tried to stop him. But they were trying to talk sense into a madpony. Without Pinkie Pie, there was no Cheese Sandwich either.

This was it, Twilight thought to herself. It had been just under a week since Pinkie's disappearance, and everypony was tired. Including Twilight. She stumbled on a rock, and Spike fell off her back. Figures, I guess. The place was covered with rocks, head to toe. It was hard not to trip on one.

Twilight knocked on the door, and nopony answered for a few seconds. She considered turning back, but then, somepony answered. "What is it?", he asked. Twilight had forgotten about the boredom that surrounded this place. Hard to believe Pinkie had grown up here. The rock farm was so… UNLIKE Pinkie.

"Yes, um, have you seen Pinkie…. er, Pinkamena anywhere?", Twilight asked, as calmly as she could manage.

"Yes. She is in her room. You can go up there to see her if you want.".

`"Alright!", Twilight said, delighted. "I'll go up to see her right now!" She ran up the stairs. Faster than Rainbow ever could, Twilight thought. She threw open the door and found…..

No Pinkie? There was a table, a window, and a chair, but no Pinkie. That was strange, I mean, Igneous Rock had told her she was up here.

Wait, Twilight told herself. There's always some reason for this. I mean, why would Igneous tell her that she was up here if she wasn't? He seemed like a trustworthy guy. He wouldn't lie, especially to Twilight. "Are you sure that Igneous told us to go to this room?", Spike asked. Twilight didn't answer. She was too busy looking for clues. The chair & table were in perfect condition, and there was nothing else in the room, except a pile of rocks in the corner. Twilight investigated the rocks, but they just seemed like normal rocks.

"Hold on a minute, Spike.", said Twilight.

The window was open. There was a light breeze flowing through the curtains. Twilight told Spike that Pinkie could've escaped through the window. It was possible. Twilight searched the rest of the house, just in case. Nopony was around, except for Igneous and his wife, Cloudy Quartz. Marble & Limestone Pie were playing with, um…..., rocks in the corner. Not a single Pinkie, sadly. This confirmed Twilight's theory. Pinkie Pie had left through the window.

"Great! Just great!", Twilight said, clearly sarcastic. "Now we've lost our only lead to Pinkie!"

Twilight had missed something very important in her haste to find Pinkie. There was a notepad, behind a curtain, on the windowsill.


	6. Not Needed

I don't think I can take too much anymore. Nopony takes me seriously, and life is….. different. After Cheese's birthday, I think I realized something. I can't live without Cheese, and I don't know how I did before. Does Cheese hate me now? Was it something I said?

There's no point in throwing parties anymore. I just can't put in the right kind of effort and heart into a party anymore. I feel… deflated. There's no longer a point. Cheese didn't show up to my last party. I know he got the letter. Did he even _want_ to show up?

It's not worth thinking about it. He hates me, doesn't he?

Signed, Pinkie Pie

It's been a couple days since I left Ponyville. I miss the Cake family, and my friends. But there's no harm in leaving them. They can survive without me. Plus, who wants a sad Pinkie? I know I don't. And I know they don't, either. Remember last time? I'm sure you don't, Journal. I mean, only I do. It was awful, and I don't want that to happen again.

Which is why I've decided to go to the only place I can feel welcome. To see Mom, and Dad, and Maud and Marble and Limestone. They are my only true friends. I mean, everypony else is fine, I guess. But I know all of them _so_ well, and they don't know me at all. It's not fair, really.

I don't know if I'll be coming back. It's possible, I suppose, but the rock farm in a lot better in terms of both opportunity and friendship. If there's no Cheese, then there's no Ponyville friends either. It's a one-way street, with Cheese. He would almost never turn back. Neither would I. Why should I?

Signed, Pinkie Pie

I'm almost at the rock farm, and I should feel at least a bit of excitement. But all I feel is regret and disappointment. Maybe a little angry, too. Angry that Cheese didn't come to my party. Angry that my 'friends' didn't even lift a hoof to try and help me through. Angry that I left Ponyville, to come to the farm.

Why should I be angry at that? I did nothing wrong. It's all my former friends who didn't help me. Actually, no. It's Cheese Sandwich's fault for not coming. And he had absolutely NO reason not to. I thought he was my friend. Guess not, huh?

He's not a friend. And neither is _anypony_ in Ponyville. Or anywhere else, except the rock farm.

Dad never let me down.

Mom didn't either.

But Cheese did.

And so did my former friends.

-Pinkamena Diane

Is there anypony left but you, Journal? Most of my family, my 'real friends', have already gotten over me moving to Ponyville, and taking myself away from the family business. They didn't miss me at all, did they? Life would've continued for them, without any change. I didn't make any lasting impact on them.

Does anything? Apparently even family members don't, so what does?

I'm leaving once again. If my destiny isn't in Ponyville, or at the farm, then where? That's what I'm setting out for. To hopefully find myself.

*sigh*.

I hope everypony in Ponyville is doing alright.

They probably are.

Nopony needs me anymore.

-Pinkamena Diane


	7. Broken and Defeated

Cheese Sandwich set off, for what seemed like the last time. He had searched near and far. He had visited Las Pegasus, the Everfree Forests, the Badlands, San Palomino Desert, and even places like the Unicorn Range and Ghastly Gorge. After weeks of searching, Cheese Sandwich had decided to go back to Ponyville, and stay there. "Where else?", Cheese asked himself. Once he arrived, he was surprised. Ponies shoved each other around, and stomped around, not talking to each other. That is, the few ponies that went outside. Shops were closed, and houses boarded up. First, Cheese tried Princess Twilight's castle, for more information. Locked. Next, he went to Sugarcube Corner. The door was open, but nopony was home. The final place Cheese looked was Sweet Apple Acres, for it was the only other place he knew around Ponyville.

Unsurprisingly, there was nopony around. Cheese was about to leave the farm, when he noticed somepony bucking apples across from where he was. Before he could say hello, the pony came up to him, without introducing herself.

"Where have you been, sugarcube?", asked Applejack. "You left quite a while ago. Are you alright?"

"Yea, I'm fine.", replied Cheese.

"You don't look fine. Come on. There's somepony who wants to see you."

Cheese was immediately excited by this. "Is it Pinkie"", he asked.

Applejack sighed. "No, Cheese.", she said. "Pinkie Pie hasn't come back yet."

You could tell Cheese Sandwich was disappointed. He followed Applejack, dragging his hooves on the ground. He had lost any and all shreds of hope at this point. Applejack led him to a bench by the side of the road, where the Cake family was sitting. The twins were crying, and Mr. and Mrs. Cake were trying their best to calm them down. The Cakes almost immediately started talking.

"Where have you been?", they asked. "Ponyville is a mess.", they said.

Cheese wasn't really listening too much to what the Cakes were saying. He was too busy thinking.

Twilight ran back to Ponyville, tired from the trip to the rock farm, which yielded no success. "I don't understand why Igneous told us Pinkie was up there, when she wasn't. We hadn't met Igneous before, have we? Why would he lie to us?"

"I'm sorry Spike,", Twilight said. "But I don't think he was intentionally lying. Maybe Pinkie left through the open window.".

Ponyville didn't exactly welcome Twilight and Spike with open hooves, but rather with questions. "Did you find Pinkie?" was a relatively frequent one.

"No.", Twilight told everypony, with a saddened expression. She trotted back to her castle, and sat down. Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were also there, moping about.

"Applejack is out with Cheese Sandwich", they told Twilight.

Twilight jumped a bit. She had no idea Cheese Sandwich was back. "Did he find Pinkie Pie?", she asked.

"No, sadly.", said Rarity. "Don't worry, darling. I'm sure we'll find her.".


	8. Imagined

Pinkie jumped out the window, and landed on the hard ground with a thud. Running away, she noticed a forest near the farm. She decided it would be a good place to start. Pinkie had come to the conclusion that what she had done in the past week or so had been meaningless. She wanted her old life back. All of her old friends, her old job at Sugarcube Corner, and her crystal chair at Twilight's castle, with her cutie mark at the top. She wanted to see Gummy, and the Cakes again. It just wasn't fun anymore.

Pinkie didn't go straight to the rock farm. She had gone from town to town, before deciding on the farm, and sending a letter to Canterlot addressed to Princess Celestia. True, she didn't exactly know her way back to Ponyville. She thought she had recognized the forest from her earlier travels. Now, deep into the forest, Pinkie was even more unsure of where to go. She searched about for some kind of landmark, but didn't see any.

Eventually, she made her way to a small town in the middle of the forest. She knew the place; Applejack had told her about it once. Applejack & Applebloom made a pie delivery here.

"Do you know where I can get to Ponyville from here?", Pinkie asked one of the locals.

"Yeeup.", he said. "Down that path, on the left. Be careful, though!".

"I will. Thank you!", Pinkie replied.

Sparked with new hope, Pinkie trotted down the path, ready to say hello to her friends once more.

Then she realized how dangerous the path actually was.

Pinkie took a double take. There wasn't another path. "Alright.", she said, and warily walked along. Fire jets shot up from the ground, and she heard growls and hissing off to her right, and occasionally behind her. She kept on the path, though, as she knew it was the only way back home. The noises were getting closer, and closer. Pinkie started walking a bit faster, out of nervousness. Turning back just wasn't an option anymore. If Pinkie did, she would most certainly run across whatever monster was making those noises.

Most search teams from Ponyville had already returned in defeat. But there was one search team that decided to set off yet again. This team consisted of Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Cheese Sandwich, and Fluttershy, even if it did take a bit of coaxing to get her on board. Now, they had arrived at Pinkie's family's rock farm, hoping to follow a trail to where Pinkie could be. They searched her room, this time being extra careful not to miss anything.

They found the notepad, behind the curtain, on the windowsill. Twilight read through it before anypony else, and found some startling results. She showed everypony else on the team what was in the notepad.

"We let Pinkie down, didn't we?", asked Fluttershy, even though she already knew the answer.

"Unfortunately, yes.", answered Twilight. "We need to find Pinkie, and apologize for it.".

"Are you sure apologizing will be enough?", Rainbow questioned. "By the looks of it, she's been through some pretty deep stuff.".

"I'm not sure, Rainbow.", replied Twilight. "All we can do now, is hope.".

Cheese Sandwich took a slightly drawn-out sigh. "I wish I would've been there on time. None of this would've ever happened.".

"Why were you late, anyway, Cheese?", asked Rainbow.

Cheese seemed reluctant to answer, but after a few seconds, started talking. "I didn't tell Pinkie, but somepony in Las Pegasus decided to invite me to a party for me, on my birthday. Since I was already in Las Pegasus at the time, I had to stay for it. Then I got a letter from Pinkie, inviting me to her party. I had two parties, both on the same date. I tried to attend both, but as you know, I was very late to Pinkie's party in Ponyville."

"There's no use dwelling on it now.", said Twilight, in a commanding tone. "We have to keep moving."

They left the house, and looked for somewhere Pinkie would've gone. If she had left through the front entrance, they probably would've have seen her by now. Rarity suggested the forest to their left, but Applejack strongly disagreed.

"This is the forest where me and Applebloom made that pie delivery a while back. The really dangerous one. Applebloom almost got eaten by a chimera there."

"Well, it's our best bet.", argued Rarity. "If she's not in here, then I just don't know where Pinkie could be."

"I've already checked here.", Cheese stated. "Then again, it was quite a while ago. Alright, I suppose. Let's go".


	9. True to Yourself

The team set into the dimly lit forest. They knew full well what was inside, thanks to Applejack & Applebloom. They didn't have any collapsible chairs, special flutes, or flame-retardant boots, but what they did have was numbers and the hope that Pinkie Pie was inside.

Pinkie walked even quicker. The growls & snarls were getting progressively louder, and more frequent. After about a minute of nervous trotting, she looked behind her once more. This time, there was a three-headed beast not far away, shrouded in mist. Pinkie broke out into a full-out sprint, to try and run away from whatever was behind her. Too bad there was another one right in front of her.

Two? She hadn't heard the one in front of her. She ran to her right, thinking she had outwitted the creatures. She hadn't. There was a third. All three of them surrounded Pinkie. She could see each of them clearly now; they were… timberwolves?! Pinkie wondered what had made the hissing behind her. If it wasn't the timberwolves, then what? Pinkie screamed for help. Maybe everypony at the rock farm could still hear her.

Cheese heard a scream from deeper in the woods. "Pinkie!", he yelled. He ran off in the direction of the scream, startling the rest of the crew even more than they had been by the scream. They blindly chased after Cheese, without knowing what was ahead. One thing was for sure, though; Pinkie was in trouble.

Cheese stumbled into a clearing, with three timberwolves. They snarled at him, and one lunged at him. Cheese quickly dove out of the way, and landed on the ground with a hard thud. Two of the timberwolves started circling him. He climbed to his hooves, and prepared himself for the timberwolves. Before they could attack Cheese, a strange figure emerged from the trees. It had three heads; snake, mountain goat, and tiger.

"Well, look what we've caught today.", said the tiger.

"Yeah. Normally we only get squirrels", the goat replied.

"Now, we have two poniessssssssssss…..", hissed the snake.

The timberwolves ran away, whimpering. Anything that's scaring away timberwolves, Cheese thought, must be even scarier than them.

Two ponies?, Pinkie asked herself. There weren't two ponies. Right? She looked around. She saw Cheese, standing strong against the three-headed beast.

"Cheese?", she said, out loud.

Cheese saw a pink pony a few yards away, with straight hair. "Pinkie!", he replied. Before he could say anything else, the chimera swatted him against a tree like he was a parasprite. He fell, defeated. The chimera strafed around his limp body, waiting for him to get up. After a few long seconds, he did, and was swatted against the tree again, with a grunt.

Twilight ran through the clearing, along with everypony else in the search team.

"That's it!", Applejack said. "That's the chimera, from before!'

"Let's get it!", yelled Rainbow. She immediately flew fast towards the chimera, and kicked the goat straight in the face, leaving the chimera stumbling backwards. Applejack ran towards the tiger head, turned around, and bucked it in the jaw, thrusting the whole being further back. Finally, Twilight prepared a magic blast and threw it at the beast, pushing it even farther back, so far that the chimera stumbled off a cliff.

Pinkie was too bewildered and surprised to make sense of what had just happened. Cheese was lying on the ground in pain, and Pinkie saw this. She trotted to him slowly, and knelt by his side, as the rest of the ponies stood aside.

Two days since the chimera attack, Cheese Sandwich and Pinkie Pie threw their second tandem party. It took place in the entire town of Ponyville, with Sugarcube Corner taking control of food. Everypony was having a great time, but off on the sidelines, Pinkie & Cheese were having a conversation away from all the commotion.

"I'm sorry I left, Cheese.", Pinkie said. "I should've waited for you to come."

"It's all fine now, isn't it? We'll be fine, and so will everypony else."

"Okey-dokey-lokey, then! Let's go enjoy the PARTY!"

"Before we go, there's something I need to tell you."

Pinkie was startled. "What is it?"

"Pinkie…", Cheese said, nervously. He waited a few moments before popping the question.

"Will you marry me?"


End file.
